Hey, 2013

Revenger Gets Some Publicity Love

I know I’ve been crazy delinquent about posting in the past few months (the “updates Mondays” tag should really go, shouldn’t it?). But at least it’s not from lack of fun, interesting work on my plate. Work like Revenger #3. In fact, Revenger artist Mike Powell and I were interviewed by @DarXideXPress for eXpertComics! Read the full interview here. And, for your comic reading pleasure (plus to prove I haven’t really just been sitting on my ass watching TV for the past few months) , here are the prologue pages from the next Revenger story we’re working on:

To be continued next month!

Still Making Comics

Here are some previews of a few comics I’m writing and are being drawn by some pretty fucking dope artists.

First up, one of three stories I’m writing for Joe Cook’s Shattered Myth. This one features Samson versus Mammon and is being drawn by Micah Weltsch. This story will initially only be available in print – yes! print! – in Volume 3 of the Shattered Myth collection. Here’s a fun excerpt from the first page:

Next up is another Shattered Myth story I’m writing. This one is part of the Spotlight series and will be featured on the website in the coming months. Eric White and I will be telling a story about Hermes that has been heavily inspired by the classic Superman vs. Flash race stories of the past. I’m really excited for this one. Here’s a look at his pencils from the first strip:

Finally, and most dear to my heart, is my latest collaboration with my partner on Revenger, Michael Powell. We’re taking a breather from Revenger but staying in the same universe, albeit 7 years in the future. This the second most important character in our world, Sovereign. Here’s a look at the first full page, completely inked. This will also be our first colored story, thanks to Eric White!

Revenger Artwork on CNN!

This Friday, CNN ran a piece on the company I work for, ScrollMotion. The best part? They panned across my desk and caught my framed Revenger artwork! Check it out:

The whole video is embedded below, for those of you interested in what I do. Funny enough, the other company highlighted is comiXology. It’s two things Rolando loves in one. And don’t forget, you can download the Revenger iPad app for free!

Website Announcement

Hi everyone,

Over a year and 150 posts later — holy shit, 150 posts! — I have to make a change to ROSHOW.net’s (relatively) regular schedule of updates on Monday and Thursdays. See, it already says it in the website’s header: new posts will only be coming on Mondays now.

But don’t worry if you need to hear from me more than once a week. One of the reasons I’ve had to cut back activity on ROSHOW.net is because I’m a regular contributor to Fucked in Park Slope. I get assignments from them about once a week. There’s also another issue of Revenger coming up along with the Revenger 2 iPad app (the Revenger 1 app is still available and still free).

Thanks for all your support!

Help Me Win Poker for Charity

This Saturday I will be playing poker at 826NYC, a non-profit dedicated to helping kids 6 to 18 develop good writing skills, and I need your help. I start with as many chips as the amount of money I raise in tax-deductible donations. All the money goes to 826NYC and the winner (hopefully me) gets a trophy.

Donate:

Thanks!

No Thursday Post: I’m Away!

Heading off to a bed & breakfast in Beacon, NY with the wife. Rock on!

Hodgepodge

Exciting week around these parts, friends. I’ve done some writing for a rather hilarious blog, Fucked in Park Slope. Check out my rants about nannies and the best place to get a six-pack. Expect more in the future.

Here are some new fill-in-the-blank adventures. Art, as always, courtesy of Jess Kirby. First up, a new installment of The Phantom and The Blue Beetle:

This is a little piece I like to call “The Avengers Being Dicks”:

A Plan & A Call to My Artist Friends

This past Monday I posted a short story that was cryptic. Not only was the story itself cryptic but so was my explanation of it afterwards. Let me go ahead and explain this all a little more.

Way back in the summer of 2003 I had a crappy temp job, was living on my own for the first time (not counting college dorms, because they shouldn’t count) and spending a lot of time not-sober. During that period I did have an idea for a story that has never left my brain in the 8 years that followed:

A woman in her mid-20′s learns that her soul is bonded with the essence of God’s greatest warrior angel. The revelation forces her into the front line of a war between Heaven and Hell that has been raging since almost the beginning of creation.

This is not about preaching for or against Judeo-Christian ideas anymore than Clash of the Titans is a statement about paganism. It’s born from my feeling that the Judeo-Christian myths are awesome fodder for epic storytelling the way that Greek, Roman and Arabic myths are (to name a few). God, Lucifer, angels, souls, saints, demons… that’s some cool shit to tell stories with.

As I began to flesh out the story of this one woman, I built a world around it to make sense of how everything would work together. Over the years the nature of the conflict between Heaven and Hell has evolved in my notes and many other stories that could take place in this world have sprung up.

Honestly, I don’t feel like I’m ready to tell the main story that gave life to all this just yet. I need more practice to be in a place where I can do it justice. But goddamn (no pun intended), I want to tell stories in this world. And it just so happens I really want a hefty project on my plate, something I can really dig into.

So I’m going to write an anthology of short stories that take place in the world of this conflict between Heaven and Hell. Stories about angels and demons going toe-to-toe. Stories about humans forced into messed up situations because of a war they never asked to be a part of. And because I imagine this conflict to be built into the very fabric of existence, there’s no genre that’s off limits. For instance:

* Horror. Lucifer can’t create life with souls. His failed attempts are soulless, deformed creatures roaming the Earth.
* Science Fiction. What about aliens? Surely they’re part of God’s plan as much as humans are. What are they up to?
* Espionage thrillers. I’m really curious as to what the central intelligence agencies are like in this war between Heaven and Hell. Imagine being a spy under those circumstances.
* Westerns. Actually, if you’ve read some stuff I’ve posted here and at 30Characters about Emmett Clayton then you’ve already been introduced to a major player in the war.

Now here’s where the call to artists comes in: I want illustrations for these stories! Something to bring them to life. Like those great editions of Lord of the Rings that had a nice picture to go along with every chapter. The artwork could be a simple penciled doodle, or a completely inked and colored piece. You can take 5 minutes to knock something out or 5 days. It’s all good as far as I’m concerned. I just think art adds to any story experience.

If you’re interested in contributing, drop me a line. You can leave a comment below, hit me up on twitter.com/roshow or gplus.to/roshow or send an email to rolando (at) roshow (dot) net. Of course you retain all rights to your art and character designs and your work will never be published anywhere without your consent.

I’m really psyched to begin this project. Expect the first story before the end of the summer and more shortly thereafter.

Thanks for all the support. Everyone reading this website has given me support that’s been crucial to getting me to a place where I’m ready to dive into this kind of challenge.

I haven’t forgotten about Tuesday & Wednesday! In the meantime: The Pope!

I made a promise on Monday about a week full of updates, building a story in slightly improv fashion. I haven’t forgotten! But last night was dedicated to prepping the next page of my comic, Revenger. You should check it out, by the way. If you like it, you can buy the digital edition that includes the whole story plus bonus content for just one buck, aka $0.99 USD! We’re not expecting to rake in the cash; we’d be happy to make enough to cover the very minimal overhead and take our wives to eat at McDonald’s (from the dollar menu, of course). Thanks for the support!

Come back tonight for the two posts I own you.

Also, as promised in the headline, THE POPE! Below is a picture of the Pope sending a tweet from an iPad. Yes, you heard that right: the Pope sent a tweet from an iPad. Holy shit! This makes me happy. Not because I’m pro-Pope or pro-Catholic (I’m not, nor am I necessarily anti-them either). And for all I know this could be a scheme by the Vatican to brainwash billions via the Internet. But when such an old, still powerful, change-adverse institution is willing to do something so modern, I am reminded that progress is inevitable. The Catholic institution can no longer live in the past and survive into the future. Hell, it was insane that they thought they could live in the past for so long. Call me an optimist but seeing them cave to technology makes me a little more hopeful for the future of mankind.

Plus, this is a hilarious photograph. Click on it to read the full story.

"No, your holiness! Twitter is no place for self-taken cell phone photographs of your holy junk!"